Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes

posted on November 2, 2016 by Brenda

Keep this tried-and-true recipe for Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes in your back pocket. These sandwiches are super flavorful and cook up easy in the slow cooker. I guarantee you’ll be asked for the recipe when you serve them!

I think my mom makes the best sloppy joes around. Her secret? Tomato juice that she has canned herself, preserving fresh sweet summer tomatoes. While I’ve never canned tomatoes myself, I always wish I had a few jars waiting for me in the pantry whenever I’m hungry for awesome just-like-Mom’s sloppy joes.

Our oldest daughter was confirmed last weekend, and we served these Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes after the ceremony to celebrate with family who had traveled to join us. These sandwiches are always, always, always a hit. I first published the recipe a number of years ago and it remains one of the more popular recipes on the blog. So I took the opportunity to update this post a bit and to remind you just how wonderful this recipe is. I do hope you’ll give it a try!

(This post was previously published November 2012. Photographs of these sloppy joes and some of the text were updated November 2016.)

My sloppy joes have never been any kind of consistent. I’ve always thrown in a bit of this and a bit of that until it comes together, all the while wishing I had a recipe written down. Since we bought this multi-cooker/slow cooker last fall, following a recommendation from my sister Jessica, I’ve been playing around with perfecting a sloppy joes recipe of my own. I love that I can brown the meat right in the multi-cooker, then add all the other ingredients, switch the setting to slow cook, and let it finish on its own. And the multi-cooker is a cinch to clean up. {love!}

So this is it. This is my Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes recipe, the one I now turn to when I’m craving that classic messy American sandwich. The recipe makes a nice big amount, perfect for inviting some friends over for a casual meal. It also freezes very well for upcoming meals and makes for excellent leftovers during the week ahead. Sloppy joes leftovers are some of the best leftovers around. They make me hugely happy. Grab some potato chips and pickles (I serve both dill pickle chips and my favorite sweet refrigerator dill pickles) – and enjoy!

Directions:

In a skillet over medium-high heat, brown ground beef and onion together until beef is cooked. (If using a slow cooker like I own - the Cuisinart Cook Central Multi-Cooker - simply brown right in the cooker.) Drain off fat and transfer to slow cooker. Add all remaining ingredients and stir well. Cover and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours. Serve on buns - I like to offer regular size buns and smaller dinner roll size buns - with pickles and potato chips. If you have the time and initiative, butter the buns and toast on a hot griddle - this adds great flavor to the sandwich!

Sloppy joes are the quintessential kid food – and I love kid food nights – I just never have neough of those and now that Ben and I have bought a bunch of ground beast, I gotta put it to good use! Thanks for the idea :)

I just felt a bit of summer time warmth after looking at these photos! Those look wonderful! My hubby never eats sloppy joes because of all of the onion and peppers in the mix, but if I can make it from scratch and leave those out, he can finally enjoy a sloppy joe! yay!

My household of hungry male roomates is going to be thanking you when I make this recipe! These sloppy joes look amazing, and I love your mother’s secret of using fresh homemade canned tomato juice. They look delicious and I love that I can throw it all in the crock pot in the morning and come home from work to a ready-made meal!

It’s weird, but I’ve never had sloppy joes before. I love meat and I love burgers, and sloppy joes are basically crumbled burgers… but these look really delicious, and pretty much everything that comes out of a slow cookie is going to taste magical.

It all depends on how much heat you like. My family, mostly due to the tastebuds of our girls, likes a medium to lower level of heat. So if your chili powder doesn’t say “medium” or “hot”, etc., just use whatever you like.

I have to tell you that without once ounce of doubt…these were the best sloppy joes I’ve ever eaten. THANK YOU! I made these for a ladies dinner last night that we usually have weekly on Wednesdays. I think every woman there at 2 of them. I brought the leftovers home and 2 of my boys each loved them! I am eating a leftover one as I type this. I forgot the garlic – purely accidental – but they were still amazing.

Hi- probably a dumb question but if you slow cook the meat do you eat til it’s brown to add ingredients and drain it before? Do you even skillet brown it and then dump it and ingredients in the slow cook?